Bidigal
/ˈbɪdɪɡəl/noun
A name used for an Aboriginal Australian people traditionally associated with the southern Sydney region of New South Wales.
Did you know?Bidigal is also commonly written Bidjigal, and historians caution that early European spellings often recorded Aboriginal names inconsistently, making a definitive translation uncertain.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-colonial period
Dharug-related languages
Bidigal
“An Indigenous ethnonym; the precise original meaning is not securely documented.”
Late 18th Century
English records
Bediagal
“An early European rendering of the name for an Aboriginal group in the Sydney region.”
19th Century
English records
Bidigal
“A continuing colonial spelling used in ethnographic and historical sources.”
20th Century
English
Bidjigal
“A widely used alternative spelling reflecting attempts to represent Aboriginal pronunciation more accurately.”
Modern English
English
Bidigal
“A recognized name for an Aboriginal Australian people and for associated cultural and geographic identities.”